Apparatus for the manufacture of fuming sulfuric acid or oleum.



T. L. BRIGGS & H. P. MERRIAM. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF FUMING SULPURIG AOID,OR OLEUM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. II 1910.

ATTORNEYS i Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS LYNTON BRIGGS, OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK, AND HENRY F. MERRIAM, OF SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS T0 GENERAL CHEMICAL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF FUMING SULFURIC ACID OR OLEU-M.

Specification of Letters Patent.

lPatented Dec. 23, 1913.

Application filed August 11, 1910. Serial No. 576,713.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that we, THOMAS LYNTON BRIGGS, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of Flushing, county of Queens, State of New York, and HENRY F. MERRIAM, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Summit, county of Union, State of New Jersey, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Fuming Sulfuric Acid or Oleum, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to an improved apparatus for the manufacture of fuming sulfuric acid, or oleum, as it is sometimes called, which is so conditioned as to prevent the escape of sulfuric anhydrid into the atmosphere.

The object of our invention is to provide means for the production of oleum which may be depended upon to give uniform and unvarying results.

The main object, however, is to provide an apparatus by means of which the absorption of SO by sulfuric acid of a strength between 97 and 99.5% (absolute H SUQ shall be complete so that there is no excess of SO to escape into the atmosphere and consequently no damage to surrounding property and to the health and comfort of the' vicinage. Our apparatus is illustrated in the drawings which represent an elevation, partly in section, of the said apparatus.

In the drawings A is a tower or upright tube having at the top thereof a head a which is provided with a peripheral upstanding flange while its bottom is pierced with holes 0. At one side of the tower near its top isan opening from which leads an outlet or air-discharge pipe d.

The tower near its bottom has an inlet pipe 6 forthe incoming gas and, still nearer the bottom, a smaller outlet pipe f leading therefrom through a thermometer pocket g and thence to a siphon trap h for the outgoing oleum. Above the inlet pipe 6 the tower has a circumferential channel or trough 2', having a discharge pipe 9'. The upper part of the tower is surrounded by a ring is of piping pierced with a series of small holes and connected to a suitable supply pipe m. Supported centrally above the head a is a distributing device it preferably made of baked clay, glass, porcelain or other suitable material inert to the action of acid. The distributer is umbrella shaped as shown and is channeled or grooved to distribute the acid in equal streamlets. Supported at a suitable height adjacent to thetop of the tower A is a tank B provided with an outlet pipe 0 forming a trap and terminating above the center of the distributer n. A pipe p provided with a spigot is connected to main receptacle (not shown) containing sulfuric acid. Within the lower part of the tower A above the pipe e is a grate 1- upon which, before the apparatus is operated, a packing of pebbles, broken quartz or similar acid inert material is placed, extending preferably to the pipe (1.

In order to insure proper operation and complete absorption of S0,, in carrying out our process commercially, we make the tower of about 14 inches inside diameter by approximately 14 feet high from the grate 1- to the head a. With this tower we have obtained most satisfactory results and have produced oleum, without creating a cloud, continuously and automatically. These proportions are entirely unusual; they provide for a short ascent of the gases, and a consequentprompt absorption which is dependent on the ability of the cooling medium to afiect all the contents of the tower.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows The acid having a strength of from 97 to 99.5% absolute H' SO,, being turned on, fills the tank B to a suitable level and thence flows through the pipe 0 at a regulated rate (determined by the bore of the pipe or by. a cock which may be inserted therein) and drops uponthe center of the distributer n from which it flows to and through the holes 0 in substantially uniform streamlets upon the packing of quartz or equivalent material supported by the grate r within the tower. Reaching said quartz the acid slowly spreads over its multitudinous surfaces and, as a thin film or great total area, gradually works its way toward the bottom of the tower. Through the pipe e which has been previously connected to a source of sulfuric anhydrid (S0 this gas is caused to enter the base of the tower below the grate r by a suitable blower, not shown, in admixture with air at a strength of preferablybetween 4 and 8 per cent. SO

.by volume, this gas meeting in its ascent the for every three cubic inches of efl'ective tower space.

3. 'lh'ecombination of the distributer n, the perforated plate a, the tower A carrying said plate, the grate in said tower, gas inlet in the lower part of the tower, oleum outlet pipe in the lowest part of the tower, air outlet pipe in the upper part of the tower, packing within the tower extending substantially to the air outlet pipe and cooling means onthe outside of the tower, the tower being so proportioned that there shall be substantially one square inch of lateral cooling surface for every three cubic inches of effective tower space. 4. In an apparatus for converting sulfuric acid and sulfuric anhyolrid into oleum, a

tower through which the anhydrid and acid are passed, packing within said tower and means for cooling the tower from the out side, the proportions of the parts being so arranged that there shall be substantially; one square inch of lateral cooling surface for every three cubic inches of effective tower space.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, THOMAS LYNTQN BRIGGS.

HENRY F. MERRIAM.

Witnesses:

F RED A. KLEIN, R. ABERLI. 

